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Ballard, Anna (1828-1923)

Very little is known about Anna Ballard. Mark Lause lists Ballard along with a group of Pfaffian women who “precious little is known” about (56). Lause mentions Ballard was one of the visitors to Ada Clare's house and that she was generally known for her groundbreaking interview with Madame Helena Petrovich Blavestky. O’Brien states that the Sun had many women reporters and lists Anna Ballard as "another Sun woman" who "wrote, among other things, the news stories that bobbed up in surrogates' court" (286). We also know that Ballard was a traveling companion of Ada Clare, following her to Cuba (Rawson 104). Ballard was a "veteran journalist" and "a life member of the New York Press Club" (Olcott 21). Olcott includes a letter written by Ballard concerning her realtionship with Blavastsky. According to Ballard’s letter, her "acquaintanceship with Mme. Blavatsky dates even further back than" what Olcott supposed. Ballard states that she met Blavatsky "in July, 1873, at New York, not more than a week after she landed" (22). She was also a member of The Theosophical Society, and presented a paper on one of its important figures, Jacob Boehme (Blavatsky & Besant 437). Though alledgedly friends with Ada Clare and known associate of other Pfaffian members and groups, Anna Ballard’s connection to Pfaff’s is currently unknown.